Liberal Party of Canada Candidates, 2004 Canadian Federal Election - Manitoba - Peter Epp (Provencher)

Peter Epp (Provencher)

Epp is a successful lawyer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the University of Manitoba, and received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia. Until 1996, he practiced corporate, commercial and real estate law for the Pitblado firm in Manitoba.

He was hired by the prestigious Linklaters firm of New York in 1996, and practiced international finance and corporate law. In 1998, he undertook a one-year special appointment at the World Bank with a focus on international development financing. He later worked at the Washington, D.C. and London, UK offices of Linklaters.

Epp returned to Canada in 2004 to contest the Provencher riding, and defeated Marcel Hacault, Lee Guetre and Herm Martens to win the Liberal nomination (Winnipeg Free Press, 6 February 2004). The Liberal Party had held the riding as recently as 2000, but faced a difficult struggle to reclaim it. Epp received 8,975 votes (24.92%), finishing second against Conservative incumbent Vic Toews.

During the campaign, Epp criticized Toews for proposing to repeal a section of the Criminal Code that gives homosexuals protection from hate crimes. Toews argued that the law threatened freedom of speech and religion; Epp argued that Toews was "pandering and exploiting the fears of faith communities" (WFP, 9 June 2004).

After the election, Epp accepted a position as the Senior Policy Advisor to The Honourable David Caplan, Ontario Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal. Following that he was a partner at the London, England office of the leading global law firm White & Case and is now a partner at Herbert Smith LLP, a leading international law firm based in London.